Retaining device.



RETAINING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 111mm, 1905.

0 l/Vl/EIVTOR 1 227217250 ilaafiawmas WITNESSES:

By b M/ %Co ATTORNEYS FERNANDO CHAVEZ DOS PASSOS, OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.

RETAINING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

iratented April 17, 1906.

Application filed March 14,1906. Serial No. 250.044.

To all whom it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, FERNANDO CHAVEZ DOS PASSOS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Augusta, in the county of Richmond and State of Georgia, have invented a new and Improved Retaining Device, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to devices for retaining in place such elements as the covers of containers in which goods are immersed in liquidas, for example, barrels of fish.

It has for its principal objects the provision of means for attaining this end which will be durable, simple, and easy to apply and remove.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a barrel with its cover in connection with which one embodiment of my invention is shown. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of adjustable mountings for the engaging portions of the device.

Abarrel or container Ais shown as provided with a cover B, which is intended to press upon the contents (indicated at C) and keep them below the level of the liquid. My improved retaining device includes a bar 10, which is preferably of some non-metallic substance, such as wood, and is of concavo-convex form. At each end of this bar is a spring engaging portion 1 1, comprising a plate which may be of metal and projects sufliciently beyond the end of the bar to give the proper resiliency. It is preferably of less widththan the bar, the latter extending beyond it at each side, and is conveniently secured in place by some such means as a plurality of screws 12, extending through 0 enings in the engaging portions and into t e bar. The outer extremities of the engaging portions are sharpened or reduced at 13, as here illustrated, there being two adjacent points upon each of said portions separated by a V-shaped depression 14. Upon the bar between the engaging portions is mounted a pressure-applying member in the form of a screw 15, which is threaded through the center of the bar, having a flattened end 16, which lies upon the convex side of said bar, and upon the opposite or concave side a finger-piece 17,

by which it maybe rotated to project or with draw it. This screw, like the bar, should be of wood or other non-metallic substance.

Instead of permanently fixing the engaging portions to the bar they may be adjustably mounted to adapt the device for application to containers of different diameters. In Fig. 3 a strap or socket 19 is shown as attached to an engaging portion and surrounds the bar, while through these elements at their junctures is threaded a screw 20. The inner end of the engaging portion may be inturned at 21 to coact with one of a series of depressions or teeth 22, into which it is forced by turning the screw against the bar. Instead of such inturned end I have illustrated in Fig. 4 a pin 23, projecting from the engaging portion and adapted to enter one of a series of openings 24 in the bar.

In use the bar is inserted within the barrel with its concave side up and pressed down until the cover rests upon the solid contents, holding it below the surface of the liquid. The screw which contacts with the cover is so adjusted before application that the bar lies wholly above the liquid, and the points of the projections engage the barrel, thus firmly holding the device against accidental displacement. It may be disengaged by depressing one end or inverting it by swinging it laterally.

It will be seen that while this retaining device is inexpensive' it will perform its functions eifectively, taking the place of the unsightly weight which is commonly applied in such situations or the objectionable and complicated fixtures which are sometimes made a part of the cover. l/Vhile metallic elements are used to effect the engagement, they furnishing points of permanent sharpness, these are so situated that they are not subject to corrosion, the only portion of the device liable to come in contact with the liquid being the end of the non-metallic screw or the bar. At the same time this bar protects the greater portion of the metallic members against the accidental splashing of the liquid upon them.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with a barrel having a movable head, of a retaining device for the movable head, comprising a bar, a contactscrew threaded through the bar and engaging the movable head, and toothed plates on the ends of the bar inclined upwardly with respect to a plane perpendicular to the aXis of the contact-screw.

2. A retaining device, comprising a bar, a contact-screw threaded through the bar, sprin -plates on the ends of the bar and incline upwardly with respect to a plane perpendicular to the aXis of the contact-screw, straps encircling the ends of the bar and the plates, and means on the inner ends of the plates for engaging the bar to prevent longitudinal movement of the plates with respect thereto.

3. A retaining device, comprising a bar,

provided on its upper face at the ends thereof with rack-teeth, a contact-screw threaded through the bar, spring-plates on the face of the bar having a hooked portion for engaging the rack-teeth, straps encircling the ends of the bar and the spring-plates, and a screw traversing the straps and the plates.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FERNANDO CHAVEZ DOS IASSOS. l/Vitnesses:

GEORGE HEINTZ, CROMMELIN FLURNAY. 

